Learning generates waste
v5
Core Principles:
Learning is a change in behavior
Mistakes are a natural part of the learning process
Think back to the last time you were trying to learn something new. Maybe it was perfecting a new recipe or deploying something complex to production. Odds are, somewhere along the way, you had a few kitchen disasters or encountered some botched configs that, from an efficiency standpoint, were wasted time and resources.
Now, contrast that with the umpteenth time you were required to complete an ethics or compliance eLearning course. How much “waste” did that generate? Aside from a block of your time, probably not much. And did your behavior change as a result of doing the course yet again?
While we can learn about something relatively quickly, actual learning—applying new skills or concepts—by its very nature, generates waste. Whether it’s discarded ingredients, crumpled paper, or worn-out equipment, there’s always something left behind as we practice and refine skills to genuinely change how we behave or perform a task.
Tracking tangible changes in behavior can sometimes be challenging. Tracking waste produced by the learning process, however, offers a simpler way to gauge progress. By focusing on waste, two significant things happen:
- It becomes easier to accept waste generation as an integral part of the change process.
- You can begin to direct what kind of waste is generated, which influences what kinds of behaviors ultimately change.
In other words, if waste is your enemy, keep it close.
